


storm clouds may gather

by etanunu



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, could be platonic or romantic (up to interpretation)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24053356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etanunu/pseuds/etanunu
Summary: The stars glimmer in the sky above. Riz and Fabian are lying on the lawn on Fabian’s battle sheet together. The air is still warm, but the ground is cool and damp. They’ve been like this, in near absolute silence for half an hour. Riz stretches, subtly touching Fabian’s thigh with the side of his foot. Part of him wonders if Fabian fell asleep at some point.“I thought that seeing him in Hell might have made this easier,” Fabian says. “Does that make sense?”It’s been one whole year since Fabian Aramais Seacaster plunged a sword into his father’s heart.
Relationships: Riz Gukgak & Fabian Aramais Seacaster, Riz Gukgak/Fabian Aramais Seacaster
Comments: 14
Kudos: 104





	storm clouds may gather

**Author's Note:**

> Been in the fanfic mood lately and I've been very into Dimension 20 lately so I figured why not. My first attempt at a hurt/comfort fix in years. Could read this as platonic or shippy, I just thought I'd like to explore how Fabian might deal with the anniversary of Bill Seacaster's death. Set shortly after Sophomore Year (I think, unless I'm getting the timeline wrong).
> 
> CW: grief, mentions of death and mourning

The stars glimmer in the sky above. Riz and Fabian are lying together on the lawn on Fabian’s battle sheet. The air is still warm, but the ground is cool and damp. They’ve been like this, in near absolute silence, for half an hour. Riz stretches, subtly touching Fabian’s thigh with the side of his foot. Part of him wonders if Fabian fell asleep at some point.

“I thought that seeing him in Hell might have made this easier,” Fabian says. “Does that make sense?”

It’s been one whole year since Fabian Aramais Seacaster plunged a sword into his father’s heart.

Riz sighs. “Yeah. No, that—that makes sense.” To be honest, he’d had a hunch all week that today wasn’t going to be nearly as easy as Fabian had joked it would be with the rest of the party. It was why he followed Fabian home today, even if Fabian acted like Riz was bugging him and making a big deal over nothing.

They’d played video games for a few hours and had one of Cathilda’s amazing restaurant-quality dinners. He wasn't sure how'd they'd wound up outside. He thinks Fabian was practicing a dance and then they laid down for some reason. Overall it had been a very normal day. Except Fabian never asked him to leave and he was tenser than normal. He kept looking at the doors around the house as though he were waiting for Hallariel to come out and declare they were doing something in remembrance of Bill Seacaster. But that never happened. It seemed like she might have forgotten what day it was or elected to treat as just any other day on purpose. With a family as eccentric as Fabian’s it could go either way.

“The Ball,” Fabian says, nearly whispering.

“Yeah?”

Every now and then it sounds like Fabian’s about to speak but then he doesn’t. He’s quiet for a long time again.

Riz knows what’s it like, how hard it is to talk about these things, to be honest about the complicated feelings around grief. He knows this. He knows so he stays silent. All he does is stretch on the elven sheet until the back of his hand bumps into Fabian’s and waits.

Fabian’s fingers twitch but he doesn’t move his hand. Riz keeps his eyes up on the sky. Even though he's tempted to turn to look at his friend, he's a bit scared. A desperate, unbidden gasp escapes Fabian’s careful control. Riz’s eyes go wide, a leaden weight drops on his chest, and then Fabian’s body is shaking and he’s grabbing Riz’s hand in his like a lifeline.

“I—” Fabian chokes out. He sighs shakily. “Sorry—it’s…Sorry, the Ball.” He stammers and grips Riz’s hand tighter.

Riz squeezes his hand back. “No,” he says. “Fabian don’t be—it’s okay. This isn’t—You don’t have to be sorry, okay?”

Almost like he’s dancing, Fabian—without letting go of Riz’s hand—spins onto his side to look at him. Though looking Fabian in the eye has been the one thing Riz has been avoiding he had no choice anymore. He turns too. Because of his darkvision he sees the tears Fabian’s holding back, the unease wrinkling the skin over his brow, every mark of pain on his face. “How?” he asks, as if Riz is the key to making all the hurt disappear.

Riz pulls their hands closer to his chest and shakes his head. “I don’t—How what?” he asks.

Fabian screws his eyes shut and bows his head as tears fall sideways down his face. “How did you know?” he whispers. “I didn’t—The Ball, _I_ didn’t even know.” The more he tries to shield himself from Riz’s gaze, the more he curls into him. “Damnit,” he hisses. “Why are you such a good detective? It’s not fair.”

It’s not super appropriate but Riz chuckles dryly at that. “Sorry,” he says. Though Fabian just admitted he's a bit annoyed with him and he’s bigger than him, Riz wraps his body around his friend. Between the 6'1" half-elf and the goblin, it's a bit unconventional for the goblin to be the big spoon. Regardless, Riz curls his tail around Fabian’s thighs and pulls him under his chin into his chest. 

Fabian only moves to get more comfortable. “This sucks,” he mumbles into Riz’s neck.

“I know, man," he says, pulling Fabian closer.

A light inside Seacastor Manor turns off downstairs. Riz wonders if it’s Cathilda in the kitchen or maybe Gillear stumbling around inside or Halleriel wandering around aimlessly from one room to another. Are any of them looking for them? Are they dealing with today alone the best way they can, because they, like Fabian, didn’t know how hard this might be? Maybe they don’t know that this doesn’t have to be something they do separately. Not that he’s one to judge. He and his mom have only just now started to figure out how to do this whole grief thing together.

“You’ll stay…right?” The broken way Fabian asks is so eerily familiar, so much like Fabian after everything with Captain James and Leviathan.

With his free hand, Riz rubs Fabian’s back. He might not always get what his friends go through, but this he gets. “As long as you want,” he says.

**Author's Note:**

> Lately, I've been wanting to write Dimension 20 stuff, even if it's just a few drabbles. Feel free to send me requests on tumblr if you'd like!


End file.
